He said in a statement: "Henning Kagermann requested that the supervisory board appoint Leo Apotheker as co-CEO in order to prepare him as successor in the best possible way during the remainder of Henning's tenure."

The SAP board today gave the green light to that request.

Kagermann’s contract with the firm is set to come to an end in 2009, paving the way for Apotheker – who took on the deputy CEO role last year – as SAP’s potential new boss. ®